2027: Coalition petitions Trump, US Congress over Nigeria’s Muslim-Muslim presidential ticket
A coalition of Christian groups and human rights defenders drawn from Nigeria’s 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja, has petitioned Donald Trump, United States President, the US Congress and diplomatic missions, warning that the continuation of a Muslim-Muslim presidential ticket in the 2027 general election poses what it described as “the single gravest political threat to the safety of Christians in Nigeria.”
A coalition of Christian groups and human rights defenders drawn from Nigeria’s 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja, has petitioned Donald Trump, United States President, the US Congress and diplomatic missions, warning that the continuation of a Muslim-Muslim presidential ticket in the 2027 general election poses what it described as “the single gravest political threat to the safety of Christians in Nigeria.”
The petition, submitted by the Christian Youth Alliance of Nigeria (CYAN) and made available to journalists in Jos, Plateau State, was signed by Zariyi Madaki, the group’s chairman; Nasiru Jagaba, secretary; alongside Luka Binniyat, Steven Kefas, Ier Jonathan-Ichaver, Apostle Michael Olowookere and Emmanuel Zopmal, among others.
It was addressed to President Trump and copied to the US Secretary of State, members of the US Senate and House of Representatives, as well as heads of diplomatic missions accredited to Nigeria.
In the petition, the coalition said it was renewing its appeal for sustained American attention to what it described as the worsening security situation facing Christians in Nigeria.
“We commend the decision to redesignate Nigeria a Country of Particular Concern (CPC), a step whose principal value so far has been to discredit propagandists who worked to portray murdered Christians as casualties of ordinary banditry, rather than what communities on the ground know them to be: targeted religious genocide,” the petition read.
While acknowledging the CPC redesignation, the coalition argued that it had failed to halt attacks on Christian communities, citing the killing of at least, 30 Christians in Naridon community of Kaduna State recently.
CYAN warned that another political development could further aggravate the security crisis.
“As we write today, a political decision unfolding in Abuja threatens to entrench and consolidate the Christian genocide in Nigeria. President Bola Tinubu’s retention of the Muslim-Muslim ticket in the upcoming 2027 election is, in our assessment, the single gravest political threat to the safety of Christians in Nigeria, particularly the northern region,” the petition stated.
The coalition argued that the Tinubu-Shettima joint ticket in the 2023 presidential election broke Nigeria’s long-standing tradition of balancing the country’s two highest political offices across religious lines.
“This is not just a symbolic grievance, but a palpable one which transcends politics and has led to Christian exclusion in Governance and in matters of faith. It has emboldened the Jihadist armed groups that already operate with impunity in Christian-dominated communities,” the petition added.
The group also referenced a 2023 video of former Kaduna State governor, Nasir el-Rufai, whom it described as the architect of the Muslim-Muslim ticket.
“Nasir el-Rufai… in 2023, was seen, in a video circulated broadly across Nigerian media, telling an audience of Islamic clerics that the Muslim-Muslim arrangement would endure and would silence the Christians in Nigeria…It illustrates precisely the political mentality we hereby ask to be repudiated,” the coalition wrote.
It further cited former Minister Isa Pantami, arguing that Nigeria’s political system had continued to elevate individuals who had allegedly made extremist statements, while also criticising the Federal Government’s policy of rehabilitating and reintegrating repentant terrorists.
“Under the current Muslim-Muslim Presidency, taxes collected from persecuted Christians are budgeted for the rehabilitation and reintegration of jihadists, so-called ‘repentant terrorists’, who are placed on Government payrolls, while Internally Displaced Persons (predominantly Christians) are left in ruins,” the petition alleged.
The coalition also expressed concern over Nigeria’s lobbying efforts in Washington, referring to filings under the US Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA).
The coalition, however, said it was not opposed to Nigeria presenting its position internationally but insisted that independent verification, rather than lobbying, should determine whether conditions had improved.
“We are also aware that the Nigerian government has retained international lobbying and public-relations firms since the CPC redesignation… In December 2025… a Kaduna law firm, Aster Legal, acting on behalf of the National Security Adviser, Nuhu Ribadu, retained the Washington public-affairs firm, DCI Group, under a contract reported at nine million dollars, purposely to expressly communicate Nigeria’s protection of Christian communities to American audiences.
“We do not object to Nigeria defending its record; we ask only that Congress and the State Department do not allow paid narrative management in Washington to substitute for verified improvements on the ground in Nigeria. The test of progress should be the safety of Christian communities, not the polish, however well-financed, of Abuja’s messaging to American audiences.”
Among its recommendations, the coalition urged the United States to maintain Nigeria’s CPC designation until there is independently verified protection for Christian communities; pressure the Nigerian government to reflect the country’s religious diversity in the 2027 presidential ticket; abolish the policy of reintegrating repentant terrorists; ensure transparent investigations into attacks, including the Christmas 2023 massacres in Bokkos, Barkin Ladi and Mangu, as well as the June 2025 Yelwata killings in Benue State; and sustain humanitarian assistance to displaced Christian communities through independent channels.
The petition also called on the United States to investigate what it described as alleged external influence on Nigeria’s politics.
“We urge you to employ your good offices to investigate reports that some Arab countries, particularly Qatar, UAE and Saudi Arabia, are meddling in Nigerian politics, by mounting pressure on the country to retain the Muslim-Muslim ticket in the forthcoming election in order to further subjugate Christians in Nigeria,” the coalition stated.
